Tag
by Maya-chan2007
Summary: The last thing Franky knew, he was all alone... Or, the Strawhats take playing games way too seriously. Modern AU, people still have Devil Fruit powers. Featuring all of the Strawhat Pirates.


_Another cute One Piece oneshot, second part in a Modern Day, Everybody Lives AU I'm working on. Takes place in the same universe as my Hats story, but you don't have to read that one to understand this one._

 _Also, anagrams. I have a serious weakness for anagrams, as can be seen in the city's name (very original, I know)._

 _Also also, I don't own One Piece. Now that that's out of the way, please enjoy!_

* * *

The hot sun beat down on the pavement, causing distant mirages to form from evaporating dew. It was only an hour before noon but already the day was looking to be a scorcher. Franky wasn't too worried, though. His cyborg body had internal climate control that kept things nice and cool. The fact that this also doubled as a cooler for his cola supply was just a (SUPER) added plus. And, with the situation at hand, Franky had a feeling he'd be needing his A-game today. Almost casually, he peeked from behind his newspaper disguise to check the surrounding neighborhood around him. He wore a large, floppy black hat over his Mohawk hair style, a light tan trench coat, his usual sunglasses, and board shorts. He would have preferred his usual Speedo since it allowed for greatest flexibility and ease of movement, as well as general comfort, but he was currently in hiding. His hope was that no one who knew him would recognize him. Once the situation was over, though, the shorts would be coming straight off. Franky's eyes darted from side to side. Both sides of the streets were clear, with the exception of a few random pedestrians. The sky also looked clear of any surprise attackers.

You never knew with his pursuer. Attacking from the air was 'fair game,' even if the buildings were several stories tall. Franky had seen others do it before so he wouldn't take any chances. He was currently on the edge of the city proper, having just left the suburbs that had been his go-to hiding place. His plan had been to hide among the quiet neighborhoods and residents. It was doubtful that someone would go out of their way to search out here. Sadly, after hearing his friends—his nakama—fall one by one over the baby Den Den Mushi, he knew he'd have to change up his strategy. His friends were only captured, thankfully, but still Franky had to avenge them. He was their last hope, and he wouldn't let their sacrifices be in vain. Franky had an image to uphold, and he would take care of his little buddies. They were, for the most part, younger than him, so of course it fell to Franky to look after them. Somehow, he'd developed a reputation for being the city's outcasts big brother, and he was okay with that. It felt like it gave him purpose, and Franky was always more than happy to help out his 'little siblings.' He hadn't been able to do that this time around, but he'd surely make it up to them. He wiped away the strange liquid coming from his eyes hurriedly and set off down the street with his head low.

It had been hard, hearing their screams get cut off. What was perhaps harder was knowing he was the only one left. How it came to this, Franky didn't know. He was easily the biggest out of their group, he should have easily been one of the first targeted. It could even be debated that he had the most 'fire power,' considering his many, many self-modifications. Yet somehow, he'd yet to even see their ever elusive pursuer. Well, that was fine with Franky. It gave him time to prepare his counter attack, formulate strategies. He just had to last another half hour and he'd win. He'd win their little 'game,' and the others would be set loose.

How Luffy always got them into these kinds of situations, Franky didn't know. Usually Franky didn't mind much since they almost always ended up having fun, but other times were just nerve wracking. And, well, he'd kind of sworn that he'd follow Luffy to the ends of the earth, so there wasn't much he could do about it. Except survive; if he was captured here now, it'd be all over. For everyone. Luckily, Franky had already thought up a plan on how to get out of this mess. After taking what he knew about the enemy into account, he knew that his best bet was to just keep moving. At this point, the enemy would probably be scouring around everywhere looking for him, perhaps even spreading out his search patterns into the neighborhoods. All Franky had to do was head deeper into Cope Inee and, theoretically, he'd be able to slip through the bastard's search pattern. His pursuer wasn't that bright, so it was highly likely that he wouldn't think to look for Franky in the places he'd already cleared out.

The only obstacle, of course, was that his hunter was also hard to predict.

"Oi, that you Franky? What a weird get up."

Franky spun around in a twirl to face his foe. He had to admit, he was a little impressed that he'd been found out so quickly. To showcase this, he compressed his emotions to a fine point before exploding in a SU-PER~! pose. It could have been his imagination, but Franky was sure that there was somehow a wave crashing behind him, with music blaring triumphantly in the background. Zoro didn't seem impressed, for some reason, raising an eyebrow at his display of manliness.

"You just don't understand the kind of manly dignity this disguise holds!" Franky declared to his friend.

Zoro stared at him blankly, his stance loose but ready for any kind of counter attack. His hand rested lightly against the hilts of his swords. "I'm pretty sure I don't want to," he finally said. Sighing, the swordsman ran his free hand through his hair. "Look, you're the last one left, and then we can call the end of the round. Are you really going to make me chase you for another twenty minutes?"

Franky was affronted. "The souls of my fallen friends wouldn't allow me to give up!" he declared. "I'm not crying, idiot! I'm feeling SU-PER~! this round. There's no way I'll just let you win." There wasn't a single member of their crew who'd give up so easily. Even Usopp would put up a fight. Zoro of all people should know this. That was okay, though; he had a plan. Franky smirked. "All I have to do is stay out of your way until time's up, and we win. You'll never catch me."

Returning his smirk easily, Zoro's eyes glinted in excitement for the chase. "Interesting. I'm not quite sure myself how the others kept running into me, but I'll definitely catch you. I'm the King of Tag."

"Or is it hide and seek?" An old joke between all of them, one repeated with familiarity.

The two friends eyed each other for a moment before both took off down the street at a run. To Franky's faint amusement, Zoro for some reason decided to turn directly into a building rather than run down the fairly straight street towards him. With Zoro's luck, though, he'd probably crash out through the side of the building (again) to find him yet again. It was just the sort of thing the swordsman was notorious for. Franky didn't have the luxury of sparing him any extra thought, however. He pulled up his plan (AKA, an elaborate set of blueprints that Franky had wasted three minutes throwing together) again before stuffing it in his trench coat pocket. His board shorts were long gone by this point, considering they were no longer necessary.

It really was easier just wearing his Speedo, Franky decided. He wasn't quite sure why other people didn't wear them more often. Considering the amount of running and physical activity their group did on a regular basis, it was definitely strange that they would sacrifice mobility for leg coverings. Then again, their legs weren't made of metal, so maybe that had something to do with it? Well, their loss.

Franky set off for Little Garden Park as quickly as he could, blowing past intersections and ignoring the furious honking of car horns. Which, _yeah_ , whatever. Didn't they see he had a game—no, a competition to win? They'd live. He didn't even hear any crashing sounds. Various people around him started cursing at him as soon as he passed. He ignored them, instead focusing on running as quickly down the street as he could.

They acted like the Strawhats never did this kind of thing regularly.

With the park looming in the distance before him, Franky started to cheer victoriously. It was only as a shadow appeared over him, growing bigger and bigger, that Franky realized he should have paid more attention to where Zoro was. Looking up, Franky only just had enough time to dodge and roll out of the way of Zoro falling out of the sky. Judging by the direction he came and calculating distance and speed, he could only have come from the top of the twenty story bank a block or so over. How…anything worked with his friend, Franky didn't know. He didn't stop to chat. Checking the time, he only had about five minutes left until the end of the round. It would take him about that long to reach the park. He continued his run to the park, their simple game somehow turning into a game of tag at the end.

Unfortunately, Zoro was wicked fast. Like a green blur, he set off after Franky with a grin on his face that wasn't going away anytime soon. Maybe they should have a talk with him later about his tendency to get very…invested…in any type of fight or competition. That wasn't to say that none of the others were the same, but Zoro just seemed to enjoy the rush more. Within a minute he was already right on Franky's heels. Somehow Franky just managed to duck under a wide-arching swipe of one of Zoro's swords. They weren't trying to seriously hurt each other, but their game wouldn't be nearly as much fun without some element of danger.

Maybe their group was more like Zoro than Franky initially thought. Adrenaline junkies all of them, though Nami and Usopp would probably protest.

Speaking of which, he could see the others already gathered at the entrance to the park cheering him on. All of a sudden a gust of wind blew sand into his eyes; it was the only explanation for why they suddenly watered up, making his vision blurry. They were cheering him on. Franky was their hope to finally win at least _one_ game against Zoro. He wouldn't—no, he _couldn't_ let them down. But, he could almost literally feel Zoro breathing down his neck. He also didn't like how close Zoro's swords were getting to his one vulnerable area, his back. He'd have to end this soon.

Narrowing his eyes, he looked back and positioned his left arm behind him. Zoro's eye widened, knowing exactly what he was about to do. There just wasn't enough time or distance between them for any other moves. This would be the last deciding fight; who ever pulled off their move first would be the winner.

"Coup de Vent!"

"Santoryu Onigiri!"

Franky's body flew through the air in the direction of the park. He grit his teeth, feeling the steel blades slice through the metal plating of his chest. It didn't hurt as much as it would have if he'd had regular skin and muscle, which is probably why Zoro didn't hold back as much as he usually would have. Franky was able to pull his last attack off but his trajectory was off thanks to Zoro's attack. Instead of heading straight through the entrance to the park he ended up stuck in the outer wall surrounding the park. With his fleshy, human back hitting the wall at high speeds Franky was struck immobile for a moment.

A moment was all Zoro needed to walk over and grab hold of his hand to help pull him out of the wall. "Gotcha. That's everyone." His voice sounded matter of fact. Franky wasn't sure if he'd have preferred him gloating.

"Franky!" Rubber arms wrapped around his waist in a hug, with Usopp, Chopper and Nami following suit. Their eyes were all watery, holding in emotion that Franky knew he couldn't show them. "You did your best!"

"Yeah," Nami sniffled, patting him on the arm and offering a smile. "It's not your fault Zoro's a monster."

"You definitely lasted the longest out of all of us!" Usopp put forth, giving him a brave smile and a thumbs up. "In fact, you just made a new record! No one's lasted that long against Zoro yet!"

"You were great!" Chopper cheered.

" _Sniff_ , no, you guys are the greatest!" Franky declared, bringing them all into a big group hug. "I'm not crying, you idiots! You are! I'm sorry I couldn't avenge you!"

Robin stepped over to the group that was partially blocking the entrance, careful to keep just out of arms reach to avoid being pulled into the hug. "You have nothing to be sorry for," she explained, offering one of her rare genuinely happy smiles. "Like Nami said, it's not your fault Zoro is a monster."

"Hey," Zoro protested, also standing off to the side. Sanji, who'd been keeping back and smoking one of his cigarettes, narrowed his eyes and approached his 'friend.'

"What? Do you deny it, marimo?" he demanded, still sore that he'd been taken out early into the round.

Zoro glared, gripping his swords tighter. "Yeah, I do. You're just upset you suck at this, curly eyebrow."

"What'd you say, sword freak?"

"Didn't hear me, love cook?"

Brook laughed happily, jauntily playing his violin from where he sat on a picnic blanket underneath one of the giant sakura trees. "It's always nice to spend time together like this, don't you think?" he asked Jimbei, watching the drama of the younger generations play out in front of them. Jimbei shook his head for a moment at the sight but he, too, had a smile on his face.

"I'm not so sure the city would agree with you, but I would say yes. Though, perhaps we should move along…before the police get here?" Because the CIPD were never far behind anywhere their group of friends decided to gather. Brook snorted, continuing to play his instrument but switching songs.

"They'll find us either way," he said. "Though you do have a point. Luffy?" he spoke louder, catching the attention of his 'captain.' "Should we start up another round?"

Luffy, who'd been egging on both Zoro and Sanji in their almost fight, paused to consider.

"Well, I don't really mind either way," he said. "But if we do another round, I want to change the rules a little."

"Really? Why's that?" Usopp asked, wiping away the last few tears from his eyes. Franky still stood to the side crying ("No I'm not!"), but he was cheering up quickly under the girls' and Chopper's sympathy. Sanji and Zoro paused their almost fight to pay attention but kept their eyes on one another.

Rocking back and forth on the heels of his feet, Luffy grinned widely. "Well, it's probably boring for Zoro to always keep catching us so easily when it's his turn. And, I think it's kind of gotten boring if we're always captured so quickly. So! Instead, how about this next turn we're allowed to hide inside buildings now?" He closed his eyes, grin widening even more. "You know, as long as we don't disturb people too much that they call the cops on us."

"You know, I _would_ like to actually win against Zoro for once," Robin said thoughtfully, eyeing the green haired man and thoughtfully holding her chin. Zoro shifted uneasily under the looks he was getting.

"What? It's not my fault you all keep running straight for me."

"But we don't!" Nami screeched, pulling her hair in anger and frustration. "You just get lost and start wandering around, coincidentally finding us in the process!"

With narrowed eyes Usopp leaned over to whisper to Chopper, "Is it really coincidence if he keeps finding us, though?"

"Who knows," Chopper replied with a shrug. Medically speaking, all of their friends were so weird that in some cases it was better to just not ask questions. He'd learned to stop asking questions a while ago, though every now and then they would do something to surprise him. Really, it was simpler to just go with the flow around these people.

Luffy looked around at his friends eagerly. He'd quit bouncing on the heels of his feet but there was still a steady strum of energy buzzing in his body. Even when standing still, he couldn't quite pull off being truly still. It was probably because he constantly needed to burn off so much energy that he and his friends ended up getting in so much trouble. But, well, it was just more fun that way, so whatever. "So? Sound good, or does anyone have any complaints?"

"None here, captain," Jimbei said as he calmly walked over. Brook had stopped playing long enough to fold the picnic blanket before heading over to his friends. There was a running joke-that-wasn't-really-a-joke in their 'crew' about Luffy being the 'Captain.' Not everyone called him that, but everyone agreed it fit. Luffy was just ecstatic to have a nickname that proved he was on his way to becoming a Great Man.

Adjusting his hat, Luffy appraised his nakama happily. "Great!" he exclaimed when no one disagreed. He closed his eyes and started pointing at everyone in turn before making his choice. "It's Usopp's turn to chase us this time!" Luffy decided. He set off as quickly as he could without looking back. Within thirty seconds only Usopp was left behind to sigh, close his eyes, spin in a circle three times and start counting to one hundred.

Of course the new rule would be in place when it was his turn.

* * *

No one was quite sure _when_ it started. Everyone, especially Luffy, had a habit of turning the most mundane things into some kind of competition just so it wouldn't be so boring. Walking home after school turned into a race to Makino's bar with the loser buying everyone else a milkshake. The Supreme Winner (as first place came to be known) would also get their choice of an entree. This worked fine at first, when it was still just five young kids running around in elementary school. As they got older, however, and learned all of the secret short cuts by heart Nami decided that it was time for a change. She and Usopp would be tied for last place since it would be just the two of them against the Monster Trio.

"It's not fair if it's always you three!" nine year old Nami pouted, already short on allowance money since her family wasn't quite as well off as the others. It especially wasn't fair when Luffy was the winner, since he ate enough for all of them put together. Stupid rubber stomach.

"Hey, if Nami says it's not fair, then it's not fair!" Sanji declared immediately. Zoro would normally disagree with him on general principle but he was starting to get guilty every time he'd see Nami or Usopp come jogging up with desperation in their eyes. They practically had 'Don't let it be Luffy!' stamped on their faces.

Luffy didn't like it when his friends didn't have fun. That was the whole point of friends, to have fun together. Somehow, their little race turned from a five-way race to three-way race for first and a two-way race for last. That definitely wasn't fun, and it didn't seem fair. Something had to be done. He sat on the ground with his legs and arms crossed, frown on his face.

"Well, if we all know where we're going to end up racing to, then maybe we should change up the end location?" It would be sad to not get a milkshake or fries or anything like that anymore as a prize, but his friends were right. The game wasn't fun anymore, and that was starting to affect the taste of his food. That just couldn't last. He'd willingly give up his prize food if it meant he could have fun with his friends again, especially since his brothers were usually gone during the week. That left only the weekend for brotherly bonding time, so the week was for friendship time. And, well, friendship time wouldn't be worth anything if everyone was miserable.

Usopp looked up from where he was making a makeshift slingshot. His old one had been taken earlier, and being unarmed made him feel vulnerable. "What, like, a new finish line every time? That seems like it could get boring, though. There are only so many places we can go to in East Blue. And my mom won't let me go to any of the other Blues until I'm older."

"Yeah, that's a problem," Luffy agreed. He didn't even want to think about what would happen when his grandpa found out that they weren't heading straight home or to Makino's. But, well, that was the price of making sure his friends were happy.

Zoro shrugged, leaning against a brick wall. They were in an outdoor courtyard between two old buildings in a section of town hardly anyone visited. "Well, we don't know until we try. Let's just randomly pick a new place every time for now. Either way, the old game was starting to get boring."

As young children without much world experience, the group couldn't think of any better solution. Their game started picking up steam as they gained new friends for their 'crew.' Chopper added in a new element since he was actually a reindeer with Human-Human powers, and could thus outrun quite a few of the others, or jump to the roofs for free running access. Not ones to be left behind, especially when something fun seemed to be happening the others started joining him in running over the roofs, low walls, or any other obstacles they came across. Slowly, when Robin came along, their racing game turned into a game of tag as they tried to keep out of the grownups way. For some reason that Luffy didn't really get, the police seemed to be after Robin specifically, though they would also try to capture the others if they had the opportunity.

Hiding from the police became almost second nature, particularly since by then the group knew all the good ambush spots from their years of play and exploration. Then came the inevitable 'I'm faster than you,' challenge that turned from everyone running towards a specific goal to everyone running away from a specific someone. When Franky joined, with his weapons and body modifications, a new element was added. Now everyone had the chance and opportunity to try and fight back against their pursuer, whether they were 'it' or yet more police trying to catch them. And, well, by that time they couldn't honestly say that there wasn't a reason for the police to be after them. Being teenage delinquents was surprisingly fun. That didn't mean they would just surrender, though.

"It's boring as hell to just give up and not fight back," after all.

When Brook was invited into their crew, the skeleton was happy enough to finally be included in activities with friends after being alone for fifty years to question his new friends' odd choice in pastime. After all, it'd been fifty years since he'd last spoken with anyone when they met; for all he knew, this was just the way things were now in society, and even if they weren't, who was he to complain? He had friends, he had Laboon, and he was having the time of his afterlife. Of course he wasn't going to question any of their peculiarities.

By the time Jimbei finally joined, their game was considered a tradition. He didn't particularly mind, especially since it was a team bonding exercise combined with regular exercise and training. He could see nothing wrong with it, barring some property damage here and there, as well as startling the locals. Then again, the group had been doing their little 'game' for so long that most everyone was used to it. Definitely nothing that would warrant the kind of attention the higher-ups in the police seemed to place on his new friends. And, well, Jimbei owed Luffy everything; he'd protect his new friends as well as he could. Of course, Jimbei would offer a guiding word or two when it looked like they would benefit from his life experience, but for the most part he didn't have to do anything. It was nice, even, to not be in charge of so many people anymore. Jimbei could finally relax with his new friends.

* * *

Jimbei found that the hardest part of playing this game of 'tag' was that he tended to stand out too much in a regular crowd. He was larger than the average human, of course, but the fact that he was blue and a rather notorious fishman didn't help him much, either. Everywhere he went, people tended to stare at him. Before, in his youth, it would be a source of irritation and bitterness. Now, Jimbei took it as merely another fact of life. He was a fishman. They were humans. He was different. His captain would always come up with new an interesting ways to get them all arrested. The sky was blue. Really, there wasn't much he could do about it, so Jimbei took the situation in stride and tried to come up with ways to use it to his advantage. Perhaps if he moved to the docks on the far side of town he'd be able to blend in with the other fishmen for the next hour and a half.

At least, that was his original thought. With the new rules in place, however, Jimbei felt the urge to try hiding out in a populated building for the time being. It felt a little stereotypical to try to blend with the other fishmen when he was perfectly capable of spending time around humans. He didn't have to try to hide who he was anymore, so why not take advantage? Now that buildings were fair game, rather than just another spot for Zoro to get lost in, it felt like a whole new world was open. The only difficult decision was choosing which one would be best for him to stay in. Preferably, it would be one that was far enough away from the start that it would take some time to come after him, yet busy and diverse enough that he could stay comfortably.

It would also be nice if he could find a place that had a café. It was fast approaching noon, and Jimbei had yet to have anything to eat or drink. Breakfast at Sanji's had been skipped in lieu of an opportunity to finally beat Zoro at the one game no one could seem to win. Franky's attempt had given him hope, and with the addition of the new rules Jimbei was starting to feel confident.

He paused in his musing when he saw a young mother having trouble with her child's stroller. It appeared that the stroller's wheel had gotten stuck at the curb, and the child was starting to get grumpy. Smiling what he hoped was a calming smile rather than a threatening one, Jimbei stooped to offer his assistance. At the same moment, he felt a rush of wind brush his hair, right where his head would have been. Jimbei didn't have to look back to know what had caused that.

"Wha-what?" the startled mother asked, looking up at Jimbei and around wildly. Jimbei lowered himself to try to appear less threatening and shifted his weight to the side.

"The wind's a little wild today, isn't it?" he said pleasantly. "Do you need help with your stroller?"

"Oh. Um. Sure, if you don't mind," the mother said, blinking rapidly. Jimbei smiled a little more genuinely as he helped work the stroller's wheel out of the storm drain it had gotten stuck in. The young mother thanked Jimbei profusely, bouncing her toddler at her side to try and calm him down.

Jimbei waved them off until they were out of sight. He glanced at the street, where a glob of liquid cement had caught a car's back tire. The driver had by this point gotten out of his car and was gesturing wildly to anyone who would pay attention. One passerby sighed heavily before pulling out their cell phone to call for auto assistance. Jimbei looked towards the direction it came from, knowing that Usopp would have changed his position since then. He probably would have tried another sniping attack if Jimbei hadn't been helping that young mother. With a sigh, he set off down the street taking a ninety degree turn at the intersection from where he'd initially been heading. Pulling out his baby Den Den Mushi he offered up his report to the others.

"It appears Sogeking has taken over." A brief smile flitted over his face at the sound of intense swearing.

" _Shit. Sniper's Rules are in effect."_

" _Well, we_ _ **did**_ _say that weapons were allowed…"_

" _And what is a Sniper King without his slingshot? Take temporary solace, Jimbei-kun. Your good deed has saved you for now."_

" _Have I ever mentioned how annoying Sogeking is?"_

Jimbei shook his head at their antics. The Sabaody Mall was just ahead of him, providing plenty of cover and places to wait until the round was over. It was always slightly amusing when Sogeking 'took over.' As far as anyone could tell, Sogeking was a separate personality of Usopp's that tended to appear in times of great stress, or when the young man needed words of encouragement. He didn't always appear when they played tag, but it was always interesting when he did show up. He and Usopp tended to have the same strategy, which was incapacitate someone from afar for just long enough that he could come over and tag them out. The only real difference that Jimbei could see was that Sogeking tended to speak more formally and archaically, which tended to come across as smug and indifferent to the others.

Jimbei was just happy that Sogeking had a moral code that kept him from attacking those who were helping the weak and helpless. As such, with Jimbei's personality, he tended to get spared from his sniping attacks more often than the others, while especially Zoro tended to be targeted first. It wasn't uncommon to end a round with the swordsman completely covered from head to toe in liquid cement.

For the remainder of the round, Jimbei spent a rather relaxing time at one of the indoor plaza cafés drinking coffee and reading the newspaper with Robin, who'd had the same idea as he.

"When do you think they'll start checking Sabaody?" Jimbei asked, genuinely curious. Robin hummed to herself, turning a page in her new archaeology book.

"Probably when it's our captain's turn," she responded, taking a sip from her own coffee mug. She lifted her eyes to his, offering him a shared smile. "If we don't tell them where we hid, of course."

"And give up a nice, temporary moment of peace?" he asked as Brook started screaming over the baby Den Den Mushi. "Not a chance."


End file.
